Jewish source texts, liturgy, laws, customs, and practices offer so many resources for us to cultivate well-being in living our day-to-day lives. From the very beginning, in the book of Breishit/Genesis, we are inspired to consider ourselves as whole beings, physical beings imbued with the breath of life, Nishmat Hayyim/נִשְׁמַ֣ת חַיִּ֑ים.  

בראשית ב׳:ז׳

ז) וַיִּיצֶר֩ יְהוָ֨ה אֱלֹהִ֜ים אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֗ם עָפָר֙ מִן־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה וַיִּפַּ֥ח בְּאַפָּ֖יו נִשְׁמַ֣ת חַיִּ֑ים וַֽיְהִ֥י הָֽאָדָ֖ם לְנֶ֥פֶשׁ חַיָּֽה׃

Genesis 2:7: Va’yitzer Yud-Hey-Vav-Hey Elohim et’ha’adam afar min ha’adamah va’yipach b’apav nishmat hayyim va’y’hi ha’adam l’nefesh chaya.

Genesis 2:7 “And the source of all life formed the person from the dust of the earth. The Creator blew into their nostrils the breath of life, and the person became a living being.”

Our tradition encourages us to live flourishing, resilient, integrated lives that include awareness, appreciation, and cultivation of health and well-being on all levels - mind, body, heart and spirit. The integration of all levels of being are essential to an experience of wholeness and healing. 

Though our culture often focuses upon the intellect, the body has its own intelligence. By tapping into the wisdom of the body, we open, access and integrate the wisdom of our physical, emotional and spiritual selves alongside our minds, in our healing journeys.

In this booklet, we offer an array of embodied practices from which you may choose to create your own healing ritual, drawing from any or all of the elements we share here. You are welcome to revisit this booklet as frequently as you are called and experiment with utilizing just one element or combining any number of these elements in different ways each time you create a healing ritual for yourself or for a loved one.

Published by Recustom in collaboration with Embodied Jewish Learning. All content created by Laura Hegfield and Julie Emden of the Embodied Jewish Wisdom Network, except where otherwise noted. All contributions from Laura Hegfield are copyrighted and shared with the author’s permission.

It is taught, that our ancestors carried both 

The unbroken, and broken tablets 

Together in the Mishkhan. 

Carried them across the wilderness 

Forty years side by side; 

broken and unbroken. 

We carry the unbroken and broken with us too. 

Stories of our lives; 

Births and birthdays -- 

Everything in between, as sure as

Illness, death, 

And grief are known.

Heartache and joy, side by side;

Broken and unbroken. 

Longing, belonging, 

Letting go;

All parts of the whole.

Learning to live with even the most jagged shards,

For the sake of healing

Through this life. 

Published by Recustom in collaboration with Embodied Jewish Learning. All content created by Laura Hegfield and Julie Emden of the Embodied Jewish Wisdom Network, except where otherwise noted. All contributions from Laura Hegfield are copyrighted and shared with the author’s permission.

Julie Emden is the Founding Director of Embodied Jewish Learning and the Embodied Jewish Wisdom Network, a global collaborative of leaders and seekers of movement practices infused with Jewish wisdom. Laura Hegfield is an educator, meditation guide and spiritual lay-leader, incorporating original liturgical poems and musical compositions to lift her voice in prayer, song and love. 

Julie and Laura have been chevruta (study partners), exploring and studying Torah together for more than 20 years. In their words: “In our weekly studies, we have found that our steady, long-standing witnessing of one another in relationship as we make connections between Torah and our day-to-day lives has been a plentiful well of nourishment and healing that sustains us over time. You may choose to explore this booklet together with a chevruta - a friend who may witness you and whom you may also witness, to enrich your experience.”

Published by Recustom in collaboration with Embodied Jewish Learning. All content created by Laura Hegfield and Julie Emden of the Embodied Jewish Wisdom Network, except where otherwise noted. All contributions from Laura Hegfield are copyrighted and shared with the author’s permission.

We invite you to take from this booklet one or more components that are useful to you in this unique moment in time on your healing journey. Each time we create a ritual for healing, we may want to draw upon different qualities needed in the moment. There are many qualities (middot/soul traits) from which to choose, such as Gevurah/ גְּבוּרָה / Inner Strength, Hesed/חֶסֶד /Lovingkindness or Nedivut/ נְדִיבוּת /Generosity.

For the purpose of this these rituals, we encourage you to open your hearts to two specific qualities we have found to be supportive on our personal healing journeys: Rachamim / רַחֲמִים / Compassion and Hakarat HaTov / הַכָּרַת הַטּוֹב / Gratitude. We invite you to choose from these rituals and any other prayers, activities, or practices that are most meaningful to you. May this booklet inspire you to discover resources within yourself and from our rich tradition to create healing rituals and spaces for yourself throughout your life.

Published by Recustom in collaboration with Embodied Jewish Learning. All content created by Laura Hegfield and Julie Emden of the Embodied Jewish Wisdom Network, except where otherwise noted. All contributions from Laura Hegfield are copyrighted and shared with the author’s permission.

For an embodied practice focused on Hakarat HaTov (Recognizing the Good), you can listen to it as a podcast led by Julie.

Or, read a transcript of the practice here.

Published by Recustom in collaboration with Embodied Jewish Learning. All content created by Laura Hegfield and Julie Emden of the Embodied Jewish Wisdom Network, except where otherwise noted. All contributions from Laura Hegfield are copyrighted and shared with the author’s permission.

Blessed One, Borei ha-Kol, Creator of all beings and things, from first breath to last, You have made it possible for us to live; for openings to open just as they should and closings to close when they must; 

Except when they don’t. 

We know that each moment is a gift. 

We understand the fragile nature of bodies; that this ensouled existence is a temporary arrangement. 

Sometimes bones break, neural pathways misfire, our organs falter, internal structures fail in some way we did not expect, the mind becomes confused, agitated, or spirits settle low;  

Truly it is miraculous that so much goes right!

We rest in Your tender embrace, and when illness arrives, we sense Your Divine hands, tending us, like a parent caring for their child, a child caring for their parent, a companion caring for a friend. 

You are beside us. 

Blessed are You, Mekor Chayyim, Source of Life Unfolding; together with Your unbounded Love, we sing a lullaby in one sweet voice; gratitude, for yet another day, and for the possibility of healing, over and over again. 

Amen.

Published by Recustom in collaboration with Embodied Jewish Learning. All content created by Laura Hegfield and Julie Emden of the Embodied Jewish Wisdom Network, except where otherwise noted. All contributions from Laura Hegfield are copyrighted and shared with the author’s permission.